Stick Out Your Tongue (5)

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” Psalms 51:3-4 (NIV)

Aligning your heart with God’s heart is vital if your are going to control your tongue. Your speech is a matter of the heart. Your transformed heart will produce transformed speech. After you have asked God to search your heart, you are ready for the next step in aligning your heart with God’s heart.

Step 2: Confess the sin God reveals.

After King David committed adultery and murder, God brought deep conviction to David’s heart in order to position him for confession and repentance. As God revealed the sin in King David’s life, David acknowledged his sin before God.

• “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 1 John 1:8 (NIV)
• “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NIV)

As God reveals the sin in your life, be willing to confess your sin specifically. In the language of the New Testament, to confess means to say that same thing about your sin that God says about it. Don’t try to neutralize your sin or water it down. Name it and say the same thing about your sin that God says about it. Once you have confessed your sin specifically, receive God’s provision of forgiveness. Now embrace a lifestyle of moral purity. As your heart is transformed by the grace of God, your speech will be transformed.

Pursuing God,

Stephen Trammell
Executive Pastor